Feature List for Firefox 3.0

When Firefox 3.0 is released later this year, the open-source browser is likely to contain a host of new features, including offline support for Web applications and new bookmark and search features. Mozilla released the second alpha version of Firefox 3.0 earlier this month.

While the final feature set hasn't been determined, Firefox 3.0 will also contain elements for its 4.0 release and beyond, said Mike Schroepfer, vice president for engineering for Mozilla Corp., during a stop in London on Tuesday. The browser is due out in the second half of the year.

Perhaps most exciting could be Firefox's ability to support writing an e-mail in, for example, Gmail while offline, with the data sent later when a user is connected to the Internet again. Ultimately, Mozilla engineers are aiming for an integration between the browser and Web-based services that is as smooth running as a desktop application, Schroepfer said.

So far, engineers have made Firefox work with Zimbra, an open-source e-mail, messaging and VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) application. With a bit of code from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., it would be possible to integrate with Gmail and Hotmail and other e-mail services.

Firefox 3.0 will also have a small, embedded database -- SQL Lite -- that will eventually be used for full-text indexing of the browser's "history." Users could search for images and text and see the cached page. The feature, however, may not make it into the 3.0 release.

Most importantly, Firefox has to be fast and standards compliant. Some users have complained about Firefox sucking up processing power because of add-ons or extensions, a popular aspect of Firefox where small programs can be downloaded and used into the browser to add new functions.

But extensions sometimes tax system resources, in part because it's often part-time hobbyists doing the coding.

Firefox 4.0 will support the JavaScript 2 language, now under development in part by Mozilla's Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich and the ECMA International standards body. The idea behind the JavaScript revamp is to make high-performance Web applications easier to write and assemble for people with less coding expertise.

Sony's answer to SlingCatcher

More details have emerged about Sony's planned Internet media streaming device, which the company first announced last month. The device, dubbed the "BRAVIA Internet Video Link," is designed to stream free standard and high-definition videos directly from the Internet onto a television, specifically Sony's 2007 BRAVIA line of displays. Sony plans to ship the unit in July for a retail price of $300.

"Internet video popularity has reached an all-time high, but until now there was no easy way to bring it into the living room," said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of the Home Products Division at Sony Electronics, who was seemingly unaware of solutions such as Sling Media's SlingCatcher, which was announced in January at CES and may ship before Sony's product.

The device attaches to the back of the television set using a metal bracket. It gets its power by plugging into a USB connector on the set itself and connects to the Internet with a standard Ethernet cable. There appears to be a cable-out connector on the back of the unit, so in theory it could work with any television set with a powered USB port, but it remains to be seen whether or not this will work in practice. Sony, for their part, says that the unit is designed to work on the BRAVIA HDTV line, including the KDL-46S3000, KDL-40S3000, KDL-32S3000, and KDL-26S3000 models. It will also work with Sony's V-series and their new XBR flat-panel LCD line.

The unit is configured to display free online videos from sites including AOL, Yahoo, and Grouper, as well as Sony itself. The user interface is the familiar Xross Media Bar first seen on the Sony PSP and later on the PlayStation 3.

The limitations of the unit (configured specifically for Sony televisions, the high price, and limited selection of videos) make it a less attractive proposition than something like the $200 SlingCatcher, which allows users to view anything their computer can display on any television. The Sony device seems designed mainly to increase sales of Sony television sets, although it may also serve as an answer to the Apple TV. While Apple TV is primarily a device to play back purchased, protected video content from iTunes, one can imagine Sony offering paid downloads for the Internet Video Link in addition to the free videos—they certainly have the content available.

Work begins on 1Gbps Mobile WiMAX spec

Even though WiMAX has yet to arrive in full force, that isn't keeping the IEEE from starting work on 802.16m. It's an ambitious plan: bump WiMAX speeds up to 1Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with 802.16e-2005, better known as Mobile WiMAX.

The IEEE is setting out an aggressive timeline for the development of "gigabit WiMAX." The standards-setting group hopes to have the technology development phase wrapped up by the end of 2007. Balloting would then take place during much of 2008, with the standard ratified by the beginning of 2009 and finalized by the end of that year.

802.16m will use multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology similar to current Mobile WiMAX technology. Those backing the new spec plan to increase bandwidth by using larger MIMO antenna arrays.

Cellular companies are eyeing the proposed new spec as a "convergence" 4G technology that would merge two parallel streams of wireless technology, 3G and 802.16, into a single standard. 802.16m would also enable wireless providers to offer the same breadth of services possible on wired networks, like streaming video, IPTV, and VoIP.

Although current 802.16e-2005 and planned 802.16m services are targeted towards mobile users, there is no reason why they couldn't be marketed as a fixed solution for those dissatisfied with their current broadband offerings.